Disability Travel - Wheelchair boarding

I am just planning a little jaunt over from the UK to Italy (Rome) for a nice weekend.

As a disabled traveller, every flight I have taken when using a wheelchair I have been boarded BEFORE the other pax.

I'm just checking on flight prices and somewhat reluctantly looked at that star of budget travel Ryan Air. In their FAQ's, they say that they board their special assistance pax AFTER general boarding and that seats are reserved.

Has anyone any experience of this with Ryan Air, and how did you find them in general with pax assist.

I would only book as a last resort but really wondered if any other airlines board wheelchair pax AFTER general boarding.

Thanks

Ryanair is notorious for its poor treatment of wheelchair using passengers.

I'm not aware of any mainline airline that routinely boards wheelchair pax after the remainder of the passengers have boarded.

I've only been to/from Italy from the UK with Alitalia as a wheelchair user. They may have ignored me in the air, but on the ground they were excellent with all my 5 flights.

I was able to avoid Ryanair whilst in a wheelchair, but did travel as a walking pax with special needs back from Spain. But this was early 2008.
I flew out with Easyjet which went very smoothly.
For the return (on Ryanair) I was given complimentary priority boarding, the ground staff couldn't really give me what I needed, but they were co-operative. Basically, I needed a bit of help getting up the stairs and with storing the one piece of baggage I had (I didn't want to subject myself to an hour of waiting for a case in LTN with the kind of furniture they have in baggage halls). As this level of assistance couldn't be provided I asked if I could pre-board someone with me if they'd agree to help me. I was told yes. This made it easier to approach a fellow passenger and ask for their help.
The airport was San Javier in Murcia and I was able to ask the Ryanair staff in Spanish. Unfortunately, I could never count on FR staff acting the same way on another flight.
The other thing I remember was how many stairs there were to negotiate at LTN on my return. I'd left from STN and hadn't realised how challenging this part of the journey would be. With hindsight, I would have requested wheelchair assistance, but I was so happy to be out of it! I suspect the wheelchairs to board last is a recent policy, I've not seen it on any airline either.

Sorry, divingdancer, my FR experience will be of little use to you. Now I have a small child I'm going to try and stick to Monarch as they're the only airline between the UK and ALC/MJV which have seats for those travelling with children which have an extra oxygen mask for them.

I'm not aware of any mainline airline that routinely boards wheelchair pax after the remainder of the passengers have boarded.

This is true, although it's not all that unusual to have this occur if there is a problem on the ground (e.g. aisle chair doesn't arrive, or boarding for all is delayed by cleaning/engineering/etc).

We certainly prefer pre-boarding to post-boarding - whether it's a deal-breaker would be a personal choice (you may find it embarassing having to board an otherwise full plane in sight of all other passengers, or you may find it's no problem).

Thanks for the replies guys. I'll keep an eye out for another airline. Ryanair would really be a LAST resort.

I saw your experience of always being pre-boarded in a wheelchair yesterday when I started brousing this thread for the first time and meant to comment before it was shut down for maintainance. I can walk a bit, but NO stairs so always use a wheelchair from ticketing to boarding gate but usually walk the ramp. I've been around the world twice plus a lot more, all by myself, no companions. I always ask if they will do preboarding, show my cane and say, with a smile, I go slow and don't want to get run over. Almost all will agree, but about half will ignore announcing pre-boarding or say I can go at the front of my section, with the kids (who are the most dangerous to wobbly people), or refuse to let me go ahead of my designated seat section, no matter what. (In some cases, especially in exotic locations where I don't know if I may run into stairs, I use the wheelchair to the airplane door. Even then, sometimes my pusher and I are put in the midst of the hurd instead of in front.)
I was semi mobile in Rome for the Millenium and mainly recall not being able to negotiate all the subway and upper sightseeing stairs. Italy is not very understanding that way. As long as it is only one (flight, not step) they think it is ok. Good luck.

We certainly prefer pre-boarding to post-boarding - whether it's a deal-breaker would be a personal choice (you may find it embarassing having to board an otherwise full plane in sight of all other passengers, or you may find it's no problem).
Having people's arms and sometimes feet in the way makes for some "interesting" times too! Trying to maneuver an aisle chair on a empty plane is sometimes difficult enough... Add people to the equation and it's a whole other story!

Most airlines try and board disabled passengers first, because it is easier . . . but, sometimes things don't always work out as planned and one can be boarded later. It really is no big deal, unless one has a major problem being seen in public, in which case what are you doing on the plane! . . . ;)

The disabled passenger does not push the slipper chair, so is really makes no difference if it is more or less difficult to board onto an empty or a full plane. Sure, some other passengers might have to pull in their elbows and legs, and those that don't might get bumped, but again, it's no big deal . . . it's the ground crew's responsibility, not the disabled passenger's. At any rate, I've flown on five continents over thirty years, and found that regardless of whether the plane is empty or full some ground crew just cannot push a slipper chair in a straight line. They would manage to bump and bang their way through a plane if the aisle was 20ft wide! :)

Not everyone is sanguine about having their disability accommodations displayed in front of a lot of strangers, especially early in their "disability career". I remember being very uncomfortable being boarded in an aisle chair onto a full plane - I've gotten over that now, but it took a while.

The disabled passenger does not push the slipper chair, so is really makes no difference if it is more or less difficult to board onto an empty or a full plane. Sure, some other passengers might have to pull in their elbows and legs, and those that don't might get bumped, but again, it's no big deal . . . it's the ground crew's responsibility, not the disabled passenger's.
It makes a HUGE difference when you get elbowed in the eye and have bruises on your shoulders from being pushed into people's arms and people's shoulders! It takes a lot longer because people have to be asked to move out of the way, and you have to be maneuvered around people and get caught in straps that are poking out from under the seat, and wait for the people putting their luggage overhead, and you feel very rushed when you are the last person on the plane and you still have to transfer while trying to not invade anyone else's space and you can't hold onto the back of the seat ahead of you to help because someone is sitting there and their head is in the space you would have held on to. It's also a lot harder to get someone to switch seats when they are settled in if you are put in a row with fixed armrests that you can't transfer over etc. Also the people who get you onto the plane can only stand in the aisle when there are passengers on the plane and they get in your way when transferring and other passengers way too. Plus the pressure of trying to do all of this while everyone is staring at you has to be taken into consideration! Of course adding a service dog to all this just complicates things even more, when things would be a lot faster and smoother if the plane wasn't full.